The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume 3: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965

Spanning the years 1940 to 1965, Defender of the Realm, the third volume of William Manchester’s The Last Lion, picks up shortly after Winston Churchill became prime minister - when his tiny island nation stood alone against the overwhelming might of Nazi Germany. The Churchill portrayed by Manchester and Reid is a man of indomitable courage, lightning-fast intellect, and an irresistible will to action.

What did you love best about The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume 3?

I liked the level of detail which is included in this volume. It contains many details which I have not encountered in either biographies of Churchill or accounts of the 2nd World War. An example is the descriptions of the ebbs and flows of support for Churchill during his time as prime minister during the war. Also, the information about the people who surrounded and assisted him during this period is very well done and informative.

Which scene was your favorite?

All of the descriptions of his personal quirks, which were many and fascinating. Examples of this are his drinking and the schedule which he kept during the blitz. Also, the scenes which describe his single minded determination to defeat Germany once he was given responsibility for the war give real insight into his greatness.

Any additional comments?

This is must reading for anyone interested in Churchill and/or the 2nd World War.

Steve Jobs

Based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

For anyone who is interested in the information technology revolution this is a must read. I recommend it highly. It combines a great story about the development of the communications revolution and a very revealing description of the personality of Steve Jobs. I especially enjoyed the detailed description of the intensity and focus which Jobs brought to his efforts to build Pixar and Apple. His excursions into the distortion reality field and explosive outbursts are examples of this intensity. His development of 1 or 2 outstanding products at a time are examples of his focus.

Any additional comments?

It will be interesting to see what happens to Apple as the company moves forward without its visionary leader.

Bring Up the Bodies: A Novel

Though he battled for seven years to marry her, Henry is disenchanted with Anne Boleyn. She has failed to give him a son and her sharp intelligence and audacious will alienate his old friends and the noble families of England. When the discarded Katherine dies in exile from the court, Anne stands starkly exposed, the focus of gossip and malice. At a word from Henry, Thomas Cromwell is ready to bring her down.

Would you consider the audio edition of Bring Up the Bodies to be better than the print version?

I would enjoy this book in either audio or print.

What did you like best about this story?

The in-depth look at the reign and purported affairs of Ann Boleyn are very well done. You do not really know if any affairs were actually consummated, just as history does not really know. It is a mystery for which we will never really know the answer, but as told here the probability is low. The characters are well fleshed out and believable. Cromwell of course is portrayed as a very complex and deep individual. You come away from the book with a nuanced look at the period and its characters. I especially like the examination of the thought processes Cromwell goes through in dealing with the events of the time.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

My primary reaction is a feeling of sadness for the fate to which so many individuals get caught up in as a part of the court intrigues surrounding Henry the 8th. It reminds me of insects getting caught up in a spiders web. They struggle but the outcome is foreordained.

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to previously untapped data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.

Coolidge: An American Enigma

Sobel instead exposes the real Coolidge, whose legacy as the most Jeffersonian of all twentieth-century presidents still reverberates today. Sobel delves into the record to show how Coolidge cut taxes four times, had a budget surplus every year in office, and cut the national debt by a third in a period of unprecedented economic growth.

What made the experience of listening to Coolidge: An American Enigma the most enjoyable?

This book attempts to flesh out the relatively one dimensional view of Calvin Coolidge which has been provided to most students of American history. It is generally successful in this regard, however the book relies too much on various verbatim readings of his speeches and writings. This gets a bit tiresome. Overall however the book does provide a better description of the personality and political philosophy of President Coolidge than found in other books on this era.

Tobruk

In the early days of April 1941, the 14,000 Australian forces garrisoned in the Libyan town of Tobruk were told to expect reinforcements and supplies within eight weeks. Eight months later these heroic, gallant, determined "Rats of Tobruk" were rescued by the British Navy having held the fort against the might of Rommel's never-before-defeated Afrika Corps.

I loved this book. I would certainly recommend it to someone who likes the personalization of war. It contains many little details of how the war in North Africa was conducted by individual soldiers, especially the Australian troops. It has a definite Aussie slant.

Which character – as performed by Humphrey Bower – was your favorite?

The portrayal of the "Desert Fox", Irwin Rommel was especially good and well balanced. It did not dress him up and make it look like he did not make mistakes. He certainly did and they are well illustrated in the book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not necessarily, it is a book which can be broken into parts and does not suffer from leaving it for a few days.

The Churchills: In Love and War

The first Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) was a soldier of such genius that a lavish palace, Blenheim, was built to honor his triumphs. Succeeding generations of Churchills sometimes achieved distinction but also included profligates and womanizers, and were saddled with the ruinous upkeep of Blenheim. The Churchills were an extraordinary family: ambitious, impecunious, impulsive, brave, and arrogant. Winston - recently voted "The Greatest Briton" - dominates them all. His failures and triumphs are revealed in the context of a poignant and sometimes tragic private life.

What made the experience of listening to The Churchills: In Love and War the most enjoyable?

If you are interested in the personal lives of famous people this book is for you. It contains information which is not in most history books and fills out the personality profiles of Winston and Clementine Churchill. I found the information about their children and the relationships between these famous parents and their offspring most interesting. It also provides a good look at the life of privilege which the upper class in England experienced during the late 19th and early 20th century.

Which character – as performed by Anne Flosnik – was your favorite?

I especially liked the portrayal of Randolph Churchill. It pulled no punches.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I liked breaking it up and enjoying each generation in turn over time.

A Century Turns: New Fears, New Hopes--America 1988 to 2008

The whole world can change in 20 years - and it did. Where is America going? Just look at the decades between 1988 and 2008. As America collectively exhaled at the end of the Cold War, we loosened our grip on the fear of nuclear confrontation for the first time since WWII. Some scholars even characterized teh collapse of the Soviet Union as the end of history itself. Peace was palpable.

What could William J. Bennett have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I was very disappointed that Bennett totally abandoned any objectivity and just reflected a totally biased Republican viewpoint in this last volume. The first two volumes of the series were interesting in that they were a bit slanted to the right of center, but still contained good insights into the events of each era. Unfortunately as he got to the comtemporary period he just went overboard in defendning the Republican position on virtually everything and being totally unsympathitic to everything that the Democrats accomplished. Totally unbalanced presentation.

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